UK: slow start despite steady demand

Spain is the main supplier of blueberries to the British market at the moment, but it has been a slow start to the season. This is due to the cold Spain has suffered in recent weeks. The quality of Spanish blueberries is fair according to one importer.

Demand is constant and some retailers have promotions and various pack sizes. Cold weather in the UK has done a lot to boost demand, but a little sunshine will change that.

China: Season coming to an end with high prices and shift to soilless substrates

The current blueberry season on the Liaodong Peninsula is almost over. The Jiaodong Peninsula blueberry has just launched, and the price is firm due to its freshness and small quantity. At present, the price of ordinary fruit is 50-60 yuan / 500g, and the price of high-quality fruit is 70-80 yuan / 500g. The price is even much higher than that of imported Chilean fruit.

Yunnan blueberries are nearing the end of their season. Both sides of the Yangtze River and the areas south of it will enter the rainy season during the fruiting season, and the quality of the fruit is poor. The price of blueberries in the Jiaodong Peninsula is expected to remain high for a period of time, until the end of May, when a large number of southern blueberries are on the market, the price will drop.

Chinese consumption of blueberries

Chinese consumer demand for domestically produced blueberries is around 1 million tonnes, but the actual output area is only 400.000 mu, which is equivalent to about 250.000 tonnes. You can see that the market potential is huge. With the increasing demand for high-quality domestic blueberries in the first-tier cities, more and more companies have grown blueberries in Shanghai in the past two years.

The UK domestic crop is in bloom at the moment, one grower reports that there is very little visible damage from night frosts, but his entire crop is covered. It will become clear in the coming weeks if there was any real damage. That said, there is still a long way to go and more chilly nights on the way, while last week's strong winds also worried producers about polytunnels.

Netherlands: turbulent blueberry import season

The blueberry market is very turbulent, according to a Dutch soft fruit importer: “Where historically the big spike in Spain and Morocco should have been going on for ten days, we see that production is not starting to flow, which means we are watching a duel between producers and retailers. The retailer sees from a historical point of view that prices should be at a low point now, so they would like to do big promotions for little money and the producer has a position of power by being able to sell the product in different channels. The fruit for the real big deals just isn't around. The 22-26 week period will be an in-between period, which is already being anticipated by activating Mexico and California to catch berries. A high price is expected here.”

South Africa: A good harvest is expected

The new blueberry season has started in Zimbabwe, and the fruit is exported to a high-end retailer in South Africa.

In South Africa, the new harvest has not yet started, but there are reports of a very good harvest coming from northern South Africa as a result of the strong expansion in recent years. Blueberry acreage is expected to exceed 3.000 hectares next year, mainly in the Western Cape.

“From Morocco, the volumes will drop rapidly after the end of next week, so everyone will get more from Spain. The peak in Spain, as we are traditionally used to, will have stabilized more, so there will be no high prices. This makes both the Spanish and Moroccan seasons relatively stable in price, without high peaks and deep lows, ”says the importer. “Qualitatively, Morocco has had a good season, with few or no quality issues so far. We expect this to continue to be the case in the final weeks of the season. Spain shows a mixed image in the fields. The traditionally older varieties and plants are having a harder time at the moment, which is leading to some sensitive or even broken berries, which are often present in the Spanish season.

Australia: blueberry export nearly doubles

According to the latest statistics, there was continued good growth in the Australian blueberry sector for the year ending June 2020, 20.783 tonnes were produced, representing a nine percent increase over the previous year. There was also a 15 percent increase in value to $ 389,6 million from the previous year. In terms of consumption, 56 percent of Australian households bought fresh blueberries throughout the year. Although still small on a global scale, exports also increased significantly, reaching a volume of 393 tonnes, 96% more than the previous year, while values ​​also increased 75% to $ 8,4 million. At the same time, imports also increased, mainly from New Zealand, six percent more than the previous year to 1.644 tonnes. Blueberry production is centered in the Coffs Harbor region of northern New South Wales.

Germany: Difficult sales in May

Blueberry sales were particularly difficult in May. The bulk of the supply currently comes from Spain, where late varieties are coming onto the market. “It is worth investing in early varieties and having them on the market at the end of April / beginning of May. After that, the demand will decrease and the supply will increase. In the first half of the season, sales were particularly good: Morocco's volumes were somewhat disappointing, while Spain had a reasonably normal harvest. Demand exceeded supply overall, resulting in good, stable prices,” says a trader.

Poland: under winter damage, but the threat of spotted wing drosophilia looms

So far, blueberry crops have suffered very little winter damage. Some farms claim that there has been damage to 10% of their crops, but even this number does not mean that there will be 10% less yield. If we look at the damage right now, it shouldn't even have any real effect on total volumes after harvest. A new challenge will be dealing with the spotted winged drosophila, which has started to appear since 2020. Polish growers always knew that this could become a problem in the future, and now the threat is here. It has caused real concern among them. However, the good news is that the start of the season will return to normal, after several years of early starts. For the past several years, the season started early on July 1. This year the season is expected to start on July 10.

Spain: Large harvest does not materialize, but good prospects for the rest of the season

The blueberry campaign continues in Huelva showing good expectations as it progresses, and registering good results that are expected to continue during this month and even next. This year, snowstorm Filomena delayed the production of the early varieties for more than a month. At the same time, the cold brought forward the production of the late varieties. At that time, it seemed that all the varieties were going to collapse in the month of April and they were going to enter production peaks together: the early ones later and the late ones earlier. However, the temperatures in March and April have been very mild, so there has been no peak.

At this time, the first Snowchaser and Windsord varieties have already finished production or are ending and the mid-season varieties such as Ventura, Emerald or Jewel are at their peak and will be finished in about two weeks. As for the late varieties, the first blueberries are already being harvested, while the harvest of the later varieties will begin in about 10 days. This offers very good prospects for the rest of the season, as a very uniform season is expected until the end.

Production scenarios

The productions foreshadowed a year with 40-50% more volume due to the age of the bushes, the hectares in production and the varieties planted and, above all, taking into account the figures of the past. But this scenario has not really happened and production has been lacking in practically 80% of the campaign. Demand has remained very high and prices have been maintained. In fact, the blueberry is the berry that has made the best in Huelva. Although spring temperatures have allowed the Spanish blueberry campaign to avoid the excess supply that was feared at the beginning of the year, in some northern European countries the climate is not improving. Many European countries are between 15 and 20 days late and that will guarantee that Spain continues all May and June in the market with good programs.

Corona no longer plays an important role in production and logistics. Compared to the previous situation, the market is heterogeneous rather than homogeneous, due to the different measures by country and market. Overall, Corona does not appear to be hurting blueberry consumption in Germany. Apart from a small drop in May, the sales volume increased every month last year compared to the same sales month in 2019. The German blueberry cultivation is mainly concentrated in northern Lower Saxony, with the harvest normally starting in the first half of July and runs until the end of August / beginning of September.

Italy: first Italian blueberries on the market

In Italy, blueberry consumption is clearly increasing compared to 2020, but the growth trend has been stable for about 5-6 years. Harvesting is taking place in Sicily and Calabria and in Campania it started in early May: production volumes are not abundant, but requests both in Italy and abroad are high. The countries that most appreciate Italian berries are mainly Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Eastern countries. Northern Italy will start harvesting and selling around week 22 (early June). Despite the frosts, from the point of view of quantities there should be no problems.

In the wholesale markets of northern Italy, there are currently Spanish and Chilean blueberries, in central Italy there were also trays of Peruvian product at the end of April. The current prices range between 13,50 and 15 euros. The prices of the Italian product seem to coincide with those of the imported product.

United States: National blueberry supply is increasing strongly to meet high demand

La offer follows a delayed start. “Harvests in Georgia and Florida were 10-15 days late, depending on the varieties and location. And two weeks ago they had bad weather, ”says a California trader.

At this time, Central Florida is behind in its selection, while North Florida is harvesting good supplies. Georgia is also improving and will peak in about seven to 10 days. “The good thing is that the production lines up with one location after another.”

Mexico and California

Mexico still has fruit but it has an evergreen production. “Volumes from Mexico don't go up or down from week to week,” she says. "However, Mexico has been in the driver's seat for West Coast distribution for the past six weeks and will be for another week or two."

Elsewhere in CA, a company-owned farm experienced a slower-than-expected start to the season. However, volumes are expected to progress steadily as the month progresses and the crop looks strong in size and quality. “We anticipate a strong jumbo blueberry program.”